John Carter has been a CEO, founder and inventor. As Principal of TCGen Inc., he has advised technology firms such as Apple, Cisco, Dolby, HP, IBM, and Xerox on strategy and operations. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Cirrus Logic (CRUS). John has raised private equity to execute a successful rollup in the Consumer Electronics sector and he has held the positions of CTO and Chief Engineer. John is the co-inventor of the BOSE Noise Cancelling Headphones and shares the original patent with Dr. Bose. He earned his MS in electrical engineering from MIT and a BS in engineering from Harvey Mudd College.

Session

Not Just for Software: New Methods for Accelerating Product Development with Agile

Please note: the following content description, aligns with the 3 learning objectives:

Modifying Agile: There are good arguments as to why Agile methods, designed for software development cannot be directly applied elsewhere: long component lead times, prototype building cycles, and tooling. All valid concerns! But, with a modification of only a few of the most impactful elements of Agile, teams can apply these tools and processes to see improved results in speed, predictability and reduced cost. We will show how to adapt the critical methods, such as sprints, estimation, burndown charts, metrics, and retrospectives.

Nesting Sprints: Another major challenge to adapting Agile is the perception that it conflicts with the commonly used waterfall processes. Our experience implementing Agile shows that in fact there is no such conflict, and in fact a benefit to leaving your overall milestone process in place. The key is to nest sprints within each of the phases of your existing development framework. If fact, we’ve found that using this combined method results in a faster learning curve of Agile methods, while maintaining the most useful elements of the waterfall process. In this session, we will show you how to do it!

Eliminating Meddling: The benefits software firms have realized from Agile are a result of applying a remarkably small number of organizational guidelines. Many teams are surprised to find that the benefits of Agile rely almost exclusively – and unexpectedly – on preventing functional managers from directing (or re-directing) the sprint team members.

We have been successful in influencing leadership and project teams in such a way that they become better focused on team (product) results. The key is to empower teams through establishing a contract between the team and management. We will show how the Boundary Conditions and Out of Bounds review tools help teams establish the right organizational structure for Agile.

By elevating product teams above functional allegiance, modifying a small, select number of Agile principles, and adding sprints to, and not replacing milestone systems, any team, in virtually any industry, can benefit from Agile development.